Test system with wireless communications

ABSTRACT

A test system for testing electronic devices can include a plurality of testers and a test station. The test station can include probes to contact the devices and the tester can control testing. Test data can be received by the test station from the testers using wireless communications links.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/696,582, filed Apr. 4, 2007 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,548,055), which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/820,319, filed Apr.8, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,202,687). The foregoing U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/696,582 and U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/820,319 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Although this invention is generally applicable to test systems andmethods in general, it is particularly suited for semiconductor devicetesting.

As is known, semiconductor devices are typically manufactured many at atime as “dies” on a semiconductor wafer, after which the dies arefurther processed before being shipped to customers or installed invarious products. That further processing may take many forms. Inperhaps the most common post-manufacture processing, the dies are probedand tested while still in wafer form. Thereafter, the dies aresingulated from the wafer, and the dies that passed the initial probetesting are packaged, burned in, and further tested. In another commonprocess, the dies are not packaged after being singulated from the waferbut are further tested and often burned in to produce “known good dies,”which are unpackaged dies that have been fully tested. In more advancedprocesses, the dies are burned in and fully tested while in wafer form.

In all of these exemplary post-manufacture processes, as well as otherscenarios in which electronic devices of any kind are tested, there is aneed to control testing and/or exercising of the dies or otherelectronic devices.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present invention relates generally to wireless transmission of testsignals. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a base controllerdisposed in a test cassette receives test data for testing a pluralityof electronic devices. The base controller wirelessly transmits the testdata to a plurality of wireless test control chips, which write the testdata to each of the electronic devices. The wireless test control chipsthen read response data generated by the electronic devices, and thewireless test control chips wirelessly transmit the response data to thebase controller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary test system.

FIG. 2A illustrates a top view of an exemplary cassette with its coverremoved.

FIG. 2B illustrates a bottom view of the cassette of FIG. 2A with itsdevice plate removed.

FIG. 2C illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the cassette of FIG.2A with its cover and device plate.

FIG. 2D illustrates an exemplary probing system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary wafer.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified, block diagram of an exemplary basecontroller.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified, block diagram of an exemplary wirelesscommunications control chip.

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary operation of the test system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates exemplary operation of steps 606 and 608 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 illustrates another exemplary test system.

FIG. 9 illustrates exemplary operation of tester I 802 a of the testsystem of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary operation of tester II 802 b of the testsystem of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary operation of a base controller in cassette810 a of the test system of FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary manufacture of semiconductor dies.

FIG. 13 illustrates a prior art test system.

FIGS. 14, 15, and 16 illustrates three exemplary test systems

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates generally to wireless transmission of testsignals. This specification describes exemplary embodiments andapplications of the invention. The invention, however, is not limited tothese exemplary embodiments and applications or to the manner in whichthe exemplary embodiments and applications operate or are describedherein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary test system 100 for testing electronicdevices, such as semiconductor dies. Test system 100 includes a tester102, a test station 104, and a communications link 106. Tester 102 maybe any tester for testing electronic devices, such as semiconductor diesof an unsingulated semiconductor wafer or singulated dies (packaged orunpackaged). Such testers are known, and any suitable tester may beused. Test station 104 includes one or more cassettes 110 and 112 (twoare shown for purposes of illustration). The cassettes 110 and 112 holdthe electronics devices to be tested and are electrically connected to acommunications back plane 108. A communications link 106, which may beany type of communications link, including without limitation a cable,fiber optics, a twisted pair, a wireless communications link, etc.,provides communications between tester 102 and test station 104. As justone example, communications link 106 may be wireless as described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/690,170, filed Oct. 21, 2003 andentitled “Wireless Test System,” by Khandros et al., which isincorporated in its entirety herein by reference. Back plane 108provides an interface to communications link 106 and each of thecassettes 110 and 112 and thus, electrically connects communicationslink 106 to each of cassettes 110 and 112. In the basic operation oftest system 100, tester 102 generates test data that is communicated tothe electronic devices under test in each cassette 110 and 112. Responsedata generated by the devices under test are sent back to the tester102. The communications path between the tester 102 and the devicesunder test includes communications link 106, back plane 108, and thecassettes 110 and 112.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a cassette110. Cassette 112 may be similar. (FIG. 2A shows a top view of thecassette 110 with its cover 235 removed; FIG. 2B shows a bottom view ofthe cassette 110 with the device plate 238 removed; FIG. 2C shows across-sectional side view of the cassette 110 with the cover 235 anddevice plate 238 in place.)

The exemplary cassette 110 shown in FIGS. 2A-2C includes a frame 218, acover 235, and a device plate 238 for holding the electronic devices tobe tested. In this example, the electronic devices to be tested are thedies of an unsingulated wafer 234, which is shown in FIG. 3. As shown inFIG. 3, exemplary wafer 234 comprises seven dies 236 a, 236 b, 236 c,236 d, 236 e, 236 f, and 236 g, and each die includes a set of fourterminals 328 a, 328 b, 328 c, 328 d, 328 e, 328 f, and 328 g in whichthe outer terminals are for ground and power, respectively, and theinner two terminals are for data input/output into and out of the die.(The number and arrangement of the dies on the wafer as well as thenumber and arrangement of terminals on each die are for illustration anddiscussion purposes only; any number and arrangement of dies on thewafer and terminals on each die may be used. For example, the dies maybe arranged in columns as well as rows. Moreover, the dies may be anytype of integrated circuit chip, including without limitation a memorychip, a microprocessor or microcontroller, a signal processor, an analogchip, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital logiccircuit, etc.) The devices being tested need not, however, be dies of anunsingulated wafer but may be any type of electronic devices, includingwithout limitation singulated dies (packaged or unpackaged). Forexample, device plate 238 may include a tray for holding singulateddies. Referring again to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, the frame 218, cover 235,and device plate 238 form an enclosure. In the enclosure are a testboard 232 (which may be a printed circuit board, a ceramic, multi-layersubstrate, semiconductor wafer, silicon wafer, or other wiringsubstrate) and the wafer 234 (or singulated dies), which is supported bythe device plate 238.

The test board 232 includes a plurality of edge connectors 202, 204, and206 that extend outside of the enclosure formed by the frame 218, cover235, and device plate 238 to make electrical connections with back plane108. As will be seen, edge connectors 202 and 206 are for power andground. Edge connectors 204, on the other hand, are for data signals.(The term data is used herein broadly to include data signals, addresssignals, control signals, status signals, etc., and test signalsgenerated by the tester that are to written to the dies and responsesignals generated by the dies.) Edge connectors 204 make electricalconnections with back plane 108, and as shown in FIG. 2A, conductivetraces 208 electrically connect each of edge connectors 204 with a basecontroller (or base controller) 210. It should be apparent that basecontroller 210 is thus provided with communications channels to and fromthe tester 102. That is, communications link 106, back plane 108, edgeconnectors 204, and traces 208 provide communications channels betweentester 102 and base controller 210. Test data generated by the tester102 to test a die 236 of wafer 234 travels from the tester over thesechannels to the base controller 210, and response data generated by thedies 236 likewise travels over these channels from the base controllerto the tester. As discussed above and shown in FIG. 3, the dies 236 a,236 b, 236 c, 236 d, 236 e, 236 f, and 26 g of wafer 234 each include aset of four terminals 328 a, 328 b, 328 c, 328 d, 328 e, 328 f, and 328g. The outer two terminals in each set of terminals 328 are for powerand ground, and the inner two terminals are for data input and output.In this example, two channels to the tester are required to test onedie—one channel for each data input/output terminal on a die 236. Asshown in FIG. 2A, there are four channels between base controller 210and tester 102. Thus, in this simplified example, base controller 210receives sufficient test data from tester 102 to test only two dies. Aswill be seen, however, base controller 210 transmits the test data itreceives from the tester 102 to a plurality of wireless test controlchips 214, which communicate the test data to the dies 236. Byconfiguring the interface between the base controller 210 and thewireless test control chips, the number of dies actually tested may beincreased.

As shown in FIG. 2A, test board 232 includes seven wireless test control(“WTC”) chips 214 a, 214 b, 214 c, 214 d, 214 e, 214 f, and 214 g, eachof which functions as a test controller. (In this example, there is oneWTC chip 214 for each die 236 on wafer 234; a ratio of WTC chips to diesother than one-to-one, however, may be implemented.) Base controller 210includes a transceiver 212, and each of the WTC chips 214 also includesa transceiver 216. Base controller 210 is thus able to communicate witheach of the WTC chips 214 wirelessly.

As shown in FIG. 2B, test board 232 includes seven sets of conductiveprobes 228 a, 228 b, 228 c, 228 d, 228 e, 228 f, and 228 g in which eachset has four probes. (Probes 228 may be any type of probes, includingwithout limitation needle probes, buckling beam probes, bumps, posts,and spring probes. Nonexclusive examples of spring probes include thespring contacts described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,917,707, 6,255,126,6,475,822, and 6,491,968; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2001/0044225 A1, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0012739A1, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0132501 A1. Theforegoing patents and patent applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.) Each set of probes 228 corresponds to oneof the dies 236 on wafer 234, and more specifically, each probe in eachset corresponds to one of the four terminals 328 of a die 236.Corresponding to the four terminals on each die 236, the two innerprobes in each set of probes 228 correspond to the data input/outputterminals on each die 236, and the two outer probes in each set ofprobes 228 correspond to the power and ground terminals on each die 236.Each WTC chip 214 is electrically connected by conductive vias (notshown) through the test board 232 to the two inner probes of a probe set228. Thus, each WTC chip 214 can be electrically connected to the datainput/output terminals 328 of a die 236 of wafer 234. Although probes228 a-228 g are illustrated in FIGS. 2B and 2C as attached to test board232, probes 228 a-228 g may alternatively be attached to the terminalsof dies 236 a-236 g, and probes 228 a-228 g on test board 232 may bereplaced with pads. As yet another alternative, probes 228 a-228 g mayfloat between pairs of pads in which one pad in each pair is on testboard 232 and the other pad in each pair is on wafer 234. Otheralternatives are also possible. For example, the probes may be pogopins, and configurations as shown in U.S. Patent No. 2002/0132501 A1 maybe used. Additional pads, bumps, probes (not shown) etc. may be presentfor a variety of possible uses.

It should be apparent that the base controller 210 wirelessly interfacesthe four channels discussed above between the base controller and thetester 102 with a plurality of WTC chips 214, each of which provideselectrical connections to the data input/output terminals of the dies236 being tested. In the example shown, and as discussed above, thereare sufficient channels between the tester 102 and the base controller210 to test only two dies 214 at a time. Through the wireless interfacebetween the base controller 210 and the WTC chips 214, however, sevendies 236 are tested. The ration of four channels to seven dies isexemplary only and other ratios may be used. Indeed, by simply changingthe number of WTC chips 214 and reconfiguring the wireless interfacebetween the base controller 210 and the WTC chips 214, the number ofdies 236 actually tested may be changed without changing the number ofchannel connections to the tester 102.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the outer probes (which correspond to the power andground terminals 328 on each die 236) in each probe set 228 areconnected by conductive trace 222 or conductive trace 226 to edgeconnector 202 or 206, which in turn are connected to a power source andground, respectively, through back plane 108. That is, the right most(relative to FIG. 2B) probe in each probe set 228 is connected by trace222 to edge connector 202, which is connected to a power source throughback plane 108. Similarly, the left most (relative to FIG. 2B) probe ineach probe set 228 is connected by trace 226 to edge connector 206,which is connected to ground through back plane 108. The ultimate sourceof power and ground may be the tester 102 (which supplies power andground through communications link 106) or some other source, includinga source internal to test station 104 or cassette 110. Isolationresistors (not shown) or other means of electrical isolation (e.g.,voltage regulators, separate power supplies, etc.) may be used toisolate electrically each power probe on test board 232 and therebyelectrically isolate the dies during testing. This prevents one faileddie from disabling the test system. Decoupling capacitors may also beincluded, as is known in the field. Such isolation resistors or othermeans of electrical isolation may be disposed wherever convenient (e.g.,on the test board or even incorporated into the dies).

The enclosure formed by frame 218, cover 235, and device plate 238 maybe sealable, hermetically or otherwise, as needed to meet any applicableclean room standard or other needs. As known in the field, gaskets (notshown) and/or sealing materials (not shown) may be provided with frame218, cover 235, and device plate 238 to accomplish this. A mechanism(not shown) for holding the frame, cover, and device together may alsobe included. In addition, the cassette 110 may optionally includeshielding to electrically shield wafer 234 and the wireless components.The cassette 110 may also optionally include a heating and/or a coolingdevice (not shown) to control the temperature of the wafer 234.Alternatively, the cassette may be coupled to an external temperaturecontrol system (not shown). Cassette 110 may also include means (notshown) for securing itself to the back plane 108 or other part of thetest station 104.

FIG. 2D illustrates an alternative embodiment of a “cassette” in whichthe “cassette” is modified for use in a semiconductor prober 259. FIG.2D includes block diagrams of the basic elements of a prober test systemfor testing semiconductor devices. As is known, a tester 252 generatestest data for testing semiconductor dies. The test data is communicatedover a communications link 254 to a probe head 256, through pogo-pins272 or other electrical connectors, to terminals 270 of a probe card258. The test data then passes through the probe card to probes 278 thatcontact terminals (not shown) of the dies 262 to be tested. The prober259 includes a moveable chuck 264 for supporting and moving the wafer260 that comprises the dies 262 being tested. It should be noted that,although the dies 262 shown in FIG. 2D are being tested in wafer form,the dies 262 could alternatively be singulated from the wafer first andthen fixed in position on the chuck 264 for testing. Response datagenerated by the dies is communicated back to the tester 252 through theprobe card 258, the probe head 256, and communications link 254.

The terminals 270 of probe card 258 are connect to a base controller276, which communicates wirelessly with WTC chips 274. Base controller276 may be generally similar to base controller 210 in FIGS. 2A-2C. WTCchips 274 may likewise be similar to WTC chips 214(a)-214(g) in FIGS.2A-2C. Base controller 276 and WTC chips 274 may operate and communicatewith each other as described above with respect to base controller 210and WTC chips 214(a)-214(g). Power and ground may be delivered to dies262 directly from selected ones of terminals 270, just as power andground is delivered directly from edge connectors 202 and 206 in FIGS.2A-2C. A shielding enclosure 280 for electrically shielding basecontroller 276 and WTC chips 274 may optionally be included.

FIG. 4 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary base controller210, which may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits. Asshown, base controller 210 includes a controller 402, data storage 408,back plane input/output circuitry 412, and transceiver input/outputcircuitry 406. Controller 402 controls overall operation of the basecontroller 210. Controller 402 may comprise a microprocessor operatingunder software control. Alternatively, controller 402 may comprisehardwired logic circuits, or controller 402 may comprise a combinationof a microprocessor and hardwired logic circuits. Storage 408 providesmemory for storing data and/or software to be run on controller 402.Back plane input/output circuitry 412 provides for input of signals fromand output of signals to conductive traces 208. The transceiverinput/output circuitry 406 provides for output of signals to transceiver212 that are to be transmitted to one or more WTC chips 214 and input ofsignals received by transceiver 212 from a WTC chip.

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary WTC chip 214,which may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits. Some or allof the WTC chip may be integrated into the electronic devices beingtested (e.g., if the electronic devices being tested are semiconductordies, part or all of the WTC chip may be integrated into the dies). Asshown, WTC chip 214 includes a controller 502, data storage 508, probeinput/output circuitry 512, and transceiver input/output circuitry 506.Controller 502 controls overall operation of the WTC chip 214. Likecontroller 402, controller 502 may comprise a microprocessor operatingunder software control, hardwired logic, or a combination of amicroprocessor and hardwired logic. Storage 508 provides memory forstoring data and/or software to be run on controller 502. Probeinput/output circuitry 512 provides for output of signals to probes 228and input of signals from probes. The transceiver input/output circuitry506 provides for output of signals to transceiver 216 that are to betransmitted to the base controller 210 and input of signals received bytransceiver 216 from the base controller 210. A WTC chip 214 mayoptionally include power management circuitry for managing delivery ofpower to the dies. Alternatively, power management circuitry may beprovided on test board 232 or built into the dies themselves.

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary operation of the test system 100 shown inFIG. 1. At step 602, the cassettes 110 and 112 are initialized, whichmay include such things as each WTC chip 214 in a cassette transmittingan identifier to the base controller 210 in the cassette, andestablishing a timing or code based protocol for communications by a WTCchip to the base controller. For example, time division or frequencydivision multiplexing may be established for communications frommultiple WTC chips 214 to the base controller 210 on a cassette. Asanother example, communications by a particular WTC chip 214 may beallowed only in response to polling by the base controller 210. Acassette 110 may have multiple base controllers 210, and if so,initialization may include assigning each WTC chip 214 in the cassetteto a particular base controller 210 to achieve, for example, balanceddata through put. If there are multiple base controllers, each basecontroller 210 may communicate with its assigned WTC chips 214 on adifferent frequency, or each base controller 210 may include a codeidentifying itself so that even though all of the WTC chips 214 receivetransmissions from a particular base controller, the WTC chips 214respond only to their assigned base controller. The WTC chips 214 mayconstitute a “self organizing network” that on power up seeks aconfiguration consistent with acceptable data transfer or behaviorneeds.

At step 604, the base controllers 210 in each cassette 110 and 112 sendinformation to the tester 102 describing the configuration of eachcassette. The dies 236 of the wafers 234 in the cassettes 110 and 112are then tested at step 606, and results of the testing are collected atstep 608. It should be noted that the step of collecting results 608 maybegin before testing 606 has completed, and thus, steps 606 and 608 mayoperate, at least in part, concurrently. Steps 606 and 608 may berepeated as necessary, and steps 602 and 604 may be repeated as testingin a particular cassette finishes and new cassettes are added to thesystem with dies to be tested.

An exemplary implementation of steps 606 and 608 is shown in FIG. 7. Atstep 702, tester 102 sends test data and/or instructions overcommunication link 106 to the back plane 108 of test station 104. Atstep 704, the base controller 210 in each cassette 110 and 112 receivesthe test data and/or instructions and wirelessly broadcasts to each ofthe seven WTC chips 214 a, 214 b, 214 c, 214 d, 214 e, 214 f, and 214 gon its cassette. If the test data for each die is the same, which islikely because the dies on the wafer would typically be the same, thebase controller 210 may simply transmit the test data to all seven ofthe WTC chips 214. Alternatively, the base controller 210 may transmitone device specific test command to each of the WTC chips (e.g., 214 a,214 b, 214 c, 214 d, 214 e, 214 f, and 214 g). The base controller 210may transmit selectively only to one or a subset of the seven WTC chips214 in any of a number of ways. For example, the base controller 210 maytransmit to one set of WTC chips 214 on one frequency and transmit toanother set of WTC chips on a different frequency. As another example,the base controller 210 may include in its transmission a codeidentifying the intended recipients of the transmission. Data may becompressed before being transmitted.

The test data may be test vectors that are simply to be passed throughto the WTC chips 214 without significant modification. Alternatively,the base controller 210 may modify the test data, or the test datareceived from the tester 102 may be commands that cause the basecontroller 210 to generate other commands or test vectors that arebroadcast as test data to the WTC chips 214. At step 706, each WTC chip214 passes the test data it received from the base controller 210 atstep 704 to its corresponding die 236. The test data passed from a WTCchip 214 to its corresponding die 236 may be the same as the test datareceived by the WTC chip 214 from the base controller 210.Alternatively, the WTC chip 214 may modify the test data, or the testdata received from the base controller 210 may be a command or commandsthat cause the WTC chip 214 to generate other commands or test vectorsthat are sent as test data to the corresponding die 236. The test datareceived by a die may be test vectors that are simply written into eachdie 236. Alternatively, the test data received by a die 236 may includetest commands that cause built-in-self-test (BIST) circuitry (not shown)on the die 236 to execute self tests as is known in the field. Othertypes of test data may also be used.

At step 708, a WTC chip 214 reads response data generated by its die 236in response to the test data. The WTC chip 214 reads the responds datafrom a die 236 through probes 228 that are in contact with the die. Atstep 710, the WTC chip 214 sends the response data wirelessly via itstransceiver 216 to the transceiver 212 of the base controller 210. Atstep 712, the base controller 210 sends the response data to the tester102 via traces 208, edge connectors 204, back plane 108, andcommunications link 106. The response data is preferably sent to thetester 102 with an identifier identifying the die 236 that produced theresponse data. Data compression or any of a variety of transmissiontechniques may optionally be used. One or more of steps 702, 704, 706,708, 710, and 712 may be repeated as needed.

It should be apparent that there are a variety of ways to implementsteps 708, 710, and 712. For example, response data may be buffered at aWTC chip 214 until testing of its corresponding die 236 is complete,after which the WTC chip signals its base controller 210 and thenwirelessly transmits all of the response data generated by the die. Asanother example, response data may be buffered at a base controller 210until testing of all of the dies 236 in the cassette is completed, afterwhich the base controller sends all of the response data to the tester102. Other variations are possible. For example, controller 502 in WTCchip 214 may perform calculations or otherwise analyze response datagenerated by the dies and transmit to the base controller 210 theresults of such calculations or analysis. The controller 402 maylikewise analyze response data and send its analysis to the tester 102.

FIG. 8 illustrates another exemplary test system 800, which includesthree testers—tester I 802 a, tester II 802 b, and tester III 802 c—andtwo test stations—test station A 804 a and test station B 804 b. Each oftester I 802 a, tester II 802 b, and tester III 802 c may be generallysimilar to tester 102, which is described above. Likewise, each of teststation A 804 a and test station B 804 b may be generally similar totest station 104, which is also described above. Cassettes 810 a, 812 a,810 b, and 812 b may be similar to cassette 110 as illustrated in FIGS.2A, 2B, 2C, 4, and 5 and described above. The wafers (not shown in FIG.8) in each cassette 810 a, 812 a, 810 b, 812 b may be generally similarto wafer 234 shown in FIG. 3 and also described above. Communicationslink 806 may be any type of link, including the types of communicationslinks discussed above with respect to communications link 106 of FIG. 1.Other elements may optionally be included in the system shown in FIG. 8.For example, a data base (not shown) may be included for storing testdata. The data base (not shown) may be connected to all of the testersand store test data for all of the electronic devices being tested.

FIGS. 9, 10, and 11 illustrate exemplary operation of the test system ofFIG. 8. For purposes of illustrating exemplary operation of FIGS. 9, 10,and 11, it is assumed that the cassettes 810 a and 812 a in test stationA 804 a and the cassettes 810 b and 812 b in test station B 804 bcontain the same type of unsingulated semiconductor wafers. It isfurther assumed that the wafers in each cassette first undergo dynamicburn-in (including some testing during burn in) followed by fullfunctional testing. Tester I 802 a controls burn-in, and tester II 802 band tester III 802 c control functional testing. Tester I 802 a hassufficient resources to manage burn in of the wafers simultaneously intwo test stations, but tester II 802 b and tester III 802 c havesufficient resources to functionally test the wafers in only one teststation. All of the foregoing assumptions are only for purposes ofsimplifying this illustration and discussion and are not limiting. Manyvariations are possible. For example, the wafers in a test station maybe different.

As will be seen, tester I 802 a initiates burn-in of the wafers in bothtest station A 804 a and test station B 804 b. Once burn in is completedat test station A 804 a, tester I 802 a sends a message to tester II 802b, which causes tester II 802 b to initiate functional testing in teststation A 804 a. Similarly, once burn in is completed at test station B804 b, tester I 802 a sends a message to tester III 802 c, which causestester III 802 c to initiate functional testing in test station B 804 b.

Turning now to FIG. 9, that figure illustrates exemplary operation oftester I 802 a, which as described above, is configured to perform burnin and has sufficient resources to perform burn in on the wafers in twotest stations. (The process of FIG. 9 may be implemented in softwarestored in a memory (not shown) and run on a controller (not shown) intester I 802 a, as is known in the field.) At step 902, tester I 802 adetermines whether one or more test stations have wafers that are readyfor burn in. As discussed below with respect to steps 1102 and 1104 ofFIG. 11, once new wafers are loaded into the cassettes of a teststation, that test station sends a message to tester I 802 a indicatingthat it has new wafers that are ready for burn in. In this example, itis assumed that new wafers were loaded into test station A 804 a andtest station B 804 b, and both test stations sent messages to tester I802 a indicating that they are ready for burn in. Thus, the process ofFIG. 9 branches from step 902 to step 904.

At step 904, tester I 802 a initiates burn in of the wafers in thecassettes in both test station A 804 a and test station B 802 b. Thereare many ways to burn in a semiconductor wafer, and any suitable way maybe used. For example, the burn in may be static or dynamic, and dynamicburn in may include providing clock signals to the dies of the wafer inthe cassettes 810 a, 812 a, 810 b, and 812 b or actual functionalexercise of the dies. For purposes of this discussion, it is assumedthat the tester I 802 a causes each die of the wafers in the cassettes810 a, 812 a, 810 b, and 812 b to be functionally exercised and testedduring burn in. Thus, at step 904, tester I 802 a broadcasts a commandor commands over communication link 806 to test station A 804 a and teststation B 804 b that powers up all of the dies in cassettes 810 a, 812a, 810 b, and 812 b and sets the temperature in each of the cassettes toa desired temperature. For example, the temperature in each cassette maybe set to an elevated temperature. Alternatively, the temperature may beset to a cold temperature. These commands may be received and executedby the base controllers 210 in each of cassettes 810 a, 812 a, 810 b,and 812 b.

As mentioned above, it is assumed for purposes of this example thatTester I 802 a performs limited tests on the dies during burn in.Accordingly, after setting the temperature in the cassettes and poweringup the dies, tester I 802 a sends test data over communications link 806to the base controllers 210 in each of cassettes 810 a, 812 a, 810 b,and 812 b. This may be accomplished as generally described above withrespect to step 702 of FIG. 7. Of course, performing burn in at step 904may require multiple sub-steps and may be time consuming. Duringexecution of step 904, the process may periodically check for messagesas at step 906 or new test stations as at step 902.

After step 904 (that is, after burn in is completed), the process ofFIG. 9 branches back to step 902, where it is determined whether thereare additional test stations that are ready for burn in. It is possiblethat one or more test stations were loaded with new wafers and added tosystem 800, in which case, the process of FIG. 9 would proceed to step904 again to perform burn in on the wafers in those new test stations.In the example being discussed, however, test station A 804 a and teststation B 804 b are the only test stations in the system, and burn inhas already been performed in those test stations. The process thusproceeds to step 906 to determine whether any messages have beenreceived. If no, the process branches back to step 902.

If there is a message at step 906, the process of FIG. 9 decodes themessage and takes whatever actions are indicated by the message.Messages are signals to tester I 802 a to take some action. There areany number of possible messages and sources of messages. Two exemplarymessages are shown in FIG. 9: a message from a test station currently inthe system requesting to be taken off line or from a new test stationrequesting to brought on line; and a message from a test stationindicating that burn in has been completed on the wafer or wafers in thecassette. The actions taken by tester I 802 a in response to each of theforegoing messages is discussed below.

The process of FIG. 9 looks for a message from a test station requestingto be brought on line or to be taken off line at step 910. If such amessage is detected, tester I 802 a adds or removes the test station atstep 912. Tester I 802 a may add a new test station by adding theidentifier of the new test station to a list of on line test stationsstored in a memory in tester I. Similarly, tester I 802 a may take atest station off line by removing its identifier from the list of online test stations stored in the memory of tester I.

The process of FIG. 9 looks for a message from a cassette indicatingthat burn in has completed on the wafer or wafers in the cassette atstep 914. If such a message is detected, tester I 802 a collects fromthe cassette the results of the testing that occurred during burin atstep 916. (Note that, as discussed above, it is assumed for purposes ofthis example that some testing occurs during burn in.) Tester I 802 acollects test results by requesting the test results from the basecontroller 210 of the cassette, as described above with respect to step712 of FIG. 7. Tester I 804 a may also do such things as reset thetemperature in the cassette. At step 918, tester I 802 a determineswhether burn in testing has completed in all of the cassettes in thattest station. If no, tester I 802 a returns to step 902. If yes, testerI 802 a signals tester II 802 b or tester III 802 c that burn in hascompleted at that test station. At step 922 in FIG. 9, tester I 802 aperforms miscellaneous tasks. Alternatively, as soon as burn-in hascompleted in one cassette in a test station, tester II 802 b or testerIII 802 c may commence its testing in the cassette, even though burn-inhas not completed in other cassettes in the test station. Thereafter,once tester II 802 b or tester III 802 c has completed its testing inthe cassette, that cassette may be loaded with a new wafer or wafers(even though testing is still occurring in other cassettes in the teststation) and burn-in commenced on those new wafers.

FIG. 10 illustrates exemplary operation of tester II 802 b and testerIII 802 c. That is, the process of FIG. 10 runs independently on bothtester II 802 b and tester III 802 c. (The process of FIG. 10 may beimplemented in software stored in a memory (not shown) and run on acontroller (not shown) in tester II 802 b, as is known in the field; theprocess may similarly be run on tester III 802 c.) As described above,for purposes of this example, it is assume that both tester II 802 b andtester III 802 c are configured to perform full functional tests on thedies of the wafers in the cassettes 810 a, 812 a, 810 b, and 812 b andthat each tester has sufficient resources to test the dies in one teststation. (This assumption is made, however, only to simplify thisdiscussion. Each tester may have fewer resources than necessary to testthe dies in one test station, or each tester may have resources fortesting wafers in more than one test station.)

FIG. 10 will be described with respect to tester II 802 b runningfunctional tests on the dies in test station A 804 a. The process ofFIG. 10, however, is equally applicable to tester II 802 b running thetests on the dies in test station B 804 b or to tester III 804 c runningfunctional tests on the dies in either test station A 804 a or teststation B 804 b.

At step 1002, tester II 804 b waits for a message, and if a message isreceived, the process of FIG. 10 decodes the message and takes whateveraction or actions are indicated by the message. There are any number ofpossible messages and sources of messages. One example of a message is amessage from tester I 802 a indicating that burn in has been completedin one of test station A 804 a or test station B 804 b. If such amessage is detected at step 1004, tester II 802 b initiates functionaltests on the dies in the cassettes of that test station at step 1006.Here, it will be assume that such a message is received indicating thatburn in has been completed in station A 804 a. Tester II 802 baccordingly sends test data over communications link 806 to the basecontrollers 210 in each of cassettes 810 a and 812 a in test station A804 a. This may be accomplished as described above with respect to step702 of FIG. 7. The step 1006 of testing devices in the cassettes 810 aand 812 a of test station A may require multiple sub-steps and may betime consuming. During execution of step 1006, the process mayperiodically check for other messages as at step 1002.

Another possible message is that the results of functional testing (step1006) are ready in one of the cassettes 810 a or 812 a in test station A804 a. If such a message is detected at step 1010, tester II 802 bcollects the results of the functional testing from that cassette atstep 1012, which tester II 802 b may do by requesting the test resultsfrom the base controller 210 of the cassette, as generally describedabove with respect to step 712 of FIG. 7. At step 1014, tester II 802 bperforms miscellaneous tasks.

FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary operation of the base controllers 210 ineach of cassettes 810 a, 812 a, 810 b, and 812 b. That is, the processof FIG. 11 runs independently on the base controllers 210 in each ofcassettes 810 a, 812 a, 810 b, and 812 b. For ease of discussion, FIG.11 will be described with respect to the base controller of cassette 810a in test station A 804 a. (The process of FIG. 11 may be implemented insoftware stored in storage 408 and run on controller 402, as is known inthe field.)

At steps 1102, 1106, 1110, 114, and 1118, the process of FIG. 11 looksfor messages. One possible message indicates that new wafers have beenloaded into the cassette 810 a, which has been loaded into test stationA 804 a and is now ready for testing. Such a message may be generatedinternally by the base controller 210 or may be received from anexternal source, such as an operator activated button. If such a messageis detected at step 1102, another message is generated and sent at step1104 to tester I 802 a indicating the presence of new wafers to betested. Preferably, step 1104 is coordinated with other cassettes in thetest station so that one message is sent from the test station once newwafers are loaded into all of the cassettes in the test station. (Notethat such a message is detected and executed by tester I 802 a at steps906, 910, and 912 of FIG. 9.)

Another possible message is receipt of burn-in/test data from tester I802 a. (Burn-in/test data may include control signals for controllingburn-in as well as test data to be run on the dies during burn in.) Ifthe receipt of burn-in/test data is detected at step 1106, the basecontroller 210 processes the data for controlling burn in and sends thetest data to all of the WTC chips 214 in the cassette 810 a. This may beaccomplished as generally described above with respect to step 704 inFIG. 7. As also described above, with respect to steps 706 and 708 ofFIG. 7, each WTC chip 214 writes the test data into a corresponding dieof the wafer in cassette 810 a and reads response data generated by thedie. After reading the response data, a WTC chip 214 may send a messageto the base controller 210 indicating that the response data is ready.If the base controller 210 in cassette 810 a detects such a message atstep 1110, the base controller collects the response data at step 1112of FIG. 11, which may be accomplished generally as described above withrespect to step 710 of FIG. 7.

Another possible message is a request from one of tester I 802 a, testerII 802 b, or tester III 802 c for test results collected by the basecontroller 210. If such a message is detected at step 1114, the basecontroller 210 sends the requested test results over communications link806 to the requesting tester. Steps 1118 and 1120 represent detectionand execution of other miscellaneous commands or messages.

FIG. 12 illustrates a process for manufacturing semiconductor dies. Atstep 1202, manufactured wafers with one or more dies are provided. Atstep 1204, the wafer is loaded into a cassette, which is loaded into atest system, such as the test system shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 8. At step1206, the dies of the wafer are tested, burned-in, and/or otherwiseexercised using any of the processes described above. At step 1208,functional dies are shipped to customers.

It should be apparent that all of the processes illustrates in FIGS. 6,7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 are exemplary and simplified. Provisions for errorprocessing, exit from the process, and other similar functions may beadded and are well within the skill of the ordinary practitioner andneed not be discussed herein.

A nonlimiting advantage of using wireless communications to testelectronic devices is that the number of electronic devices testedsimultaneously by the tester may be increased beyond the tester'sresources.

FIG. 13 illustrates a prior art test system for testing a wafer 1334using a probe card 1332. For ease of illustration, it is assumed thatwafer 1334 has four dies (not shown), and each die includes two datainput pads and two data output pads. Four data channels incommunications link 1306 are thus required to test each die on wafer1334. To test simultaneously all four dies on wafer 1334, 16 datachannels in communications link 1306 are required. Eight of thosechannels would be configured to be down link channels for carrying testdata to the two data input pads of each of the four dies on wafer 1334,and the other eight of those channels would be configured as up linkchannels for carrying response data generated by each die. Probe card1332 would need 16 probes, one to contact each of the four pads on eachof the four dies of wafer 1334.

In this example, it is further assumed that tester 1302 has sufficientresources to interface with 16 data channels in communications link1306. Thus, in this simplified example, all of the tester's resources—inthis example 16 channels—are used to test simultaneously all four of thedies of wafer 1334. If the number of dies on wafer 1334 is increased(e.g., because of a device shrink as is common in the semiconductorindustry), however, the tester would no longer have sufficient resourcesto test simultaneously all of the dies on wafer 1334. For example, ifdue to a device shrink, six dies are made on wafer 1334, 24 datachannels in communications link 1306 would be required to testsimultaneously all six of the dies on wafer 1334.

The use of wireless communications with the dies allows for a moreefficient allocation of the tester 1302 resources. FIG. 14 illustrates asimplified block diagram of an exemplary test system that includes atester 1302, a communications link 1306, a base controller 1432 (e.g.,similar to the base controller shown in FIG. 4), and a wafer 1334 withdies to be tested. Although not shown, WTC chips (e.g., similar to theWTC chip shown in FIG. 5) are disposed on wafer 1334 or otherwise forcontrolling wireless communications between the dies of wafer 1334 andbase controller 1432.

Returning to the above-described example in which wafer 1334 has sixdies (each with two input data pads and two data output pads) and tester1302 has sufficient resources to interface with 16 data channels incommunications link 1306, the wireless system of FIG. 14 can beconfigured to test simultaneously all six of the dies of wafer 1334. Twoof the 16 channels in communications link 1306 are configured as downlink channels for carrying test data from the tester 1302 to the dies ofwafer 1334, and 12 of the channels are configured as up link channelsfor carrying response data generated by the dies back to the tester.(Two of the 16 channels in communications link 1306 are unused in thisexample.) The base controller 1432 receives test data on the two downlink channels and wirelessly broadcasts (via wireless link 1450) thetest data to all six of the dies of wafer 1334. Base controller 1432receives wirelessly (via wireless link 1450) response data generated byeach of the six dies, and base controller 1432 sends the response datato the tester 1302 via the 12 up link channels of communications link1306. Thus, the wireless test system shown in FIG. 14 is able to testsimultaneously wafer 1334 even though the number of dies exceeds theresources of the tester 1302.

As another simplified example, suppose another device shrink occurs andeight dies are now made on wafer 1334. Two of the 16 channels incommunications link 1306 may again be configured as down link channelsfor carrying test data from tester 1302 to base controller 1432, and allremaining 14 channels of communications link 1306 are configured as uplink channels. Again, base controller 1432 receives test data on the twodown link channels and wirelessly broadcasts (via wireless link 1450)the test data to all eight of the dies of wafer 1334. Base controller1432 then receives wirelessly (via wireless link 1450) response datagenerated by each of the eight dies. In this example, base controller1432 has received response data from eight dies, which would require 16up link channels to return to tester 1302. There are, however, only 14up link channels available. Using multiplexing techniques, the basecontroller 1432 sends the response data normally requiring 16 up linkchannels over the 14 available up link channels to the tester 1302.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary test system in which a plurality of (inthis example two) base controllers 1432 a and 1432 b are used.Continuing with the above simplified example in which tester 1302 hassufficient resources to interface with 16 data channels ofcommunications link 1306, suppose yet another device shrink occurs andnow 16 dies are made on wafer 1334. In the example shown in FIG. 15, twoof those 16 channels are configured as down link channels to basecontroller A 1432 a and six channels are configured as up link channelsfrom base controller A 1432 a. Similarly, two channels are configured asdown link channels to base controller B 1432 b and six channels areconfigured as up link channels from base controller B 1432 b. Both basecontroller A 1432 a and base controller B 1432 b receive test data viatheir respective down link channels, and each base controller 1432 a and1432 b broadcasts the test data to a different group of eight dies onwafer 1334. Base controller A 1432 a broadcasts the test data viawireless link 1450 a, and base controller B 1432 b broadcasts the testdata via wireless link 1450 b. Each base controller 1432 a and 1432 bthen receives via the same wireless links 1450 a and 1450 b responsedata generated by the same groups of eight dies. Using multiplexing,base controller A 1434 a then sends the response data collected fromeight of the dies over its six up link channels of communications link1306 to tester 1302. Also using multiplexing, base controller B 1434 bsends the response data collected from the other eight of the dies overits six up link channels of communications link 1306 to tester 1302. Theuse of a plurality of base controllers may be particularly useful insituations in which the particular testing demands begin to approach orexceed the band width of the wireless communications link between a basecontroller and the dies.

Wireless communications may also be used in a test system to balancedata throughput and maximize efficiency. FIG. 16 illustrates anexemplary test system that includes two testers (tester A 1602 andtester B 1604) and three base controllers (base controller A 1614, basecontroller B 1616, and base controller C 1618) for testing three wafers(wafer A 1626, wafer B 1628, and wafer C 1630). Communications links1606, 1608, 1610, and 1612 connect testers A and B (1602 and 1604) withbase controllers A, B, and C (1614, 1616, and 1618), and wireless links1620, 1622, and 1624 wirelessly connect base controllers A, B, and C(1614, 1616, and 1618) with WTC chips (not shown, but which may besimilar to FIG. 5) disposed on wafers A, B, and C (1626, 1628, and1630). (Tester A 1602 and tester B 1604 may be similar to any of thetesters discussed above, and base controller A 1614, base controller B1616, and base controller C 1618 may be similar to the base controllershown in FIG. 4.) The testers (1602 and 1604) may be connected to thebase controllers (1614, 1616, and 1618) and the base controllers (1614,1616, and 1618) to the wafers (1616, 1628, and 1630) in such a way as tobalance data throughput and maximize efficiency, depending on the datathroughput demands of the dies being tested or other demands of thesystem. This may result in an uneven allocation of communicationsresources.

For example, as shown in FIG. 16, one communications link 1606 connectstester A 1602 to base controller A 1614, and one communications link1612 connects tester B 1604 to base controller 1618, but twocommunications links 1608 and 1610 connect base controller B 1616 toeach of tester A 1602 and tester B 1604. As also shown in FIG. 16,wireless link 1620 wirelessly connects base controller A to a portion ofthe dies of wafer A 1626; wireless link 1622 wirelessly connects basecontroller B to a portion of the dies of wafer A 1626 and a portion ofthe dies of wafer B 1628; and wireless link 1624 wirelessly connectsbase controller C 1618 to a portion of the dies of wafer B 1628 and allof the dies of wafer C 1630.

The following provides one non-limiting example of balancing of datathroughput for the system shown in FIG. 16. In this example, it isassumed that tester A 1602 supports transfer of data at speeds up to 100megabits per second (MBPS) and tester B supports transfer of data atspeeds up to 20 MBPS. It is also assumed that wafer A is capable oftransferring data at speeds up to 60 MBPS, wafer B 1628 is capable oftransferring data at speeds up to 50 MBPS, and wafer C 1630 is capableof transferring data at speeds up to 10 MBPS.

Given the foregoing assumptions, the system shown in FIG. 16 can bebalanced by allocating 60 BMPS of the 100 MBPS available from tester A1602 to communications link 1606 (the communications link between testerA 1602 and base controller A 1614); the remaining 40 BMPS of the 100MBPS available from tester A 1602 to communications link 1608 (thecommunications link between tester A 1602 and base controller B 1616);10 BMPS of the 20 MBPS available from tester B 1604 to communicationslink 1610 (the communications link between tester B 1604 and basecontroller B 1616); and the remaining 10 BMPS of the 20 MBPS availablefrom tester B 1604 to communications link 1612 (the communications linkbetween tester B 1604 and base controller C 1618). Test data istransferred across wireless link 1620 (that is, between base controllerA 1614 and the portion of wafer A 1626 tested by base controller A 1614)at 60 MBPS; test data is transferred across wireless link 1622 (that is,between base controller B 1616 and the portion of wafer A 1626 and theportion of wafer B 1628 tested by base controller B 1616) at 50 MBPS;and test data is transferred across wireless link 1624 (that is, betweenbase controller C 1618 and the portion of wafer B 1628 and the portionof wafer C 1630 tested by base controller C 1618) at 10 MBPS. Theforegoing numerical values for data rates, etc. of the system shown inFIG. 16 are exemplary only and given for purposes of discussion andillustration only.

The foregoing embodiments are exemplary only, and many variations andmodifications are possible. For example, a “wireless” interface mayinclude hybrid variations of “wireless.” In a complex factory floorenvironment, there may be hundreds or thousands of pieces of equipmentengaged simultaneously in wireless communications. In such anenvironment, various methods of managing communications may be used.Cables may be used to distribute communications signals wide areawireless broadcasting stations. Such devices as signal repeaters (e.g.,with directional antennas) may also be used. Thus, for example, thewireless links 1620, 1622, and 1624 may include such devices as cablesinterconnecting wireless broadcasting stations and/or signal repeaters.As another example of a possible variation, the two data probes in eachprobe set 228 may be replaced by electromagnetic coupling thataccomplishes communication of test data and test results contactlesslyas described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/772,970, entitled“Contactless Interfacing Of Test Signals With A Device Under Test,” byMiller et al., which is incorporated in its entirety herein byreference. Electromagnetic coupling is also discussed in Published U.S.Patent Application No. 20020186106, which is also incorporated in itsentirety herein by reference. As yet another example, although one WTCchip is shown in the above examples for every one die under test, oneWTC chip may correspond to two or more dies under test or more than oneWTC chip may correspond to one die under test. As another example,portions of the WTC chip circuitry (e.g., see FIG. 5) may be implementedon a die. Indeed, the entire WTC chip circuitry could alternatively beimplemented on a die.

1. A test system comprising: a plurality of testers each configured tocontrol testing of electronic devices, the plurality of testerscomprising a first tester and a second tester; a test station comprisinga plurality of probes for contacting the electronic devices, more thanone of the probes configured to contact a same one of the electronicdevices, the test station being configured to test a set of theelectronic devices in accordance with test data received from theplurality of testers; a plurality of communications links linking eachof the testers to the test station; and wherein the test stationcomprises a controller, and the test data comprises commands that causethe controller to generate test vectors that are output to theelectronic devices.
 2. The test system of claim 1, wherein: the firsttester has a first data transfer rate, and the second tester has asecond data transfer rate that is different than the first data transferrate.
 3. The test system of claim 2, wherein the test station isconfigured to test the set of electronic devices at a data transfer ratethat is a sum of at least a portion of the first data transfer rate andat least a portion of the second data transfer rate.
 4. The test systemof claim 1, wherein: the first tester is configured to send a firstportion of the test data to the test station, and the test station isconfigured to test a first portion of the set of electronic devices withthe first portion of the test data; and the second tester is configuredto send a second portion of the test data to the test station, and thetest station is configured to test a second portion of the set ofelectronic devices with the second portion of the test data.
 5. The testsystem of claim 1, wherein the set of electronic devices comprises diesof an unsingulated semiconductor wafer.
 6. The test system of claim 1,wherein the test data comprises test commands provided by the testersthat cause the test station to generate test vectors that are providedto the electronic devices, wherein the test vectors are different thanthe test commands.
 7. The test system of claim 1, wherein the pluralityof testers comprises a third tester.
 8. The test system of claim 1further comprising a communications link linking the first tester andthe second tester.
 9. The test system of claim 8, wherein a first one ofthe plurality of testers initiates testing using a second one of theplurality of testers.
 10. The test system of claim 1, wherein the teststation comprises a cassette for holding ones of the electronic devices,the cassette comprising: a base controller electrically connectable toones of the plurality of communications links; a plurality of testcontrollers; and a wireless data link between the base controller andthe plurality of test controllers.
 11. The test system of claim 10,wherein the probes are electrically connected to the test controllers.12. A test system comprising: a plurality of testers each configured tocontrol testing of electronic devices, the plurality of testerscomprising a first tester and a second tester; a test station comprisinga plurality of probes for contacting the electronic devices, more thanone of the probes configured to contact a same one of the electronicdevices, the test station being configured to test a set of theelectronic devices in accordance with test data received from theplurality of testers; a plurality of communications links linking eachof the testers to the test station; and wherein the test stationcomprises: a communications backplane comprising a communicationsinterface to ones of the testers and a plurality of pluggable electricalinterfaces, the pluggable electrical interfaces being electricallyconnected to the communications interface, and a cassette configured tohold ones of the electronic devices, the cassette comprising anelectrical interface configured to be plugged into one of the pluggableelectrical interfaces of the backplane, the cassette providing datacommunications between the electrical interface of the cassette and theprobes.
 13. The test system of claim 12, wherein the test stationcomprises a controller, and the test data comprises commands that causethe controller to generate test vectors that are output to theelectronic devices.
 14. The test system of claim 12, wherein the testdata comprises test commands provided by the testers that cause the teststation to generate test vectors that are provided to the electronicdevices, wherein the test vectors are different than the test commands.